Old family; or, The Setons of Scotland and America

1585-160S] LORD CHANCELLOR OF SCOTLAND. 1^7
was taken into favor by King James, who in 1585 made
him an Extraordinary Lord of Session, and in 1587 raised
him to the peerage by the title of Lord Urquhart. He be-
came President of the College of Justice in 1593, and on the
gth of January, 1596, was appointed one of the Octavians,
or Commissioners of Exchequer, and their presiding officer.*
For ten successive years he was Lord Provost of Edinburgh,
and kept wonderfully good order in the town. On March 4,
1598, he was created Baron Fyvie, and soon afterward in-
trusted with the education of the king's second son, who lived
to become Charles I. In October, 1604, Lord Fyvie and
the other Scotch Commissioners went to London to confer
upon the union of the two kingdoms, then projected, and a
favorite measure of King James.
In 1605 Lord Fvvie was made Earl Dunfermline and Lord
Chancellor of Scotland, being the last Catholic to hold that
high office. It is known how cordially the Scotch were dis-
liked in England. Sir Henry Yelverton, M.P., having
spoken disrespectfully of the Scottish nation and of its Chan-
cellor, who is described as " a Seton, a man of magnificent
tastes, and most dignified and astute character," was obliged
to go down on his knees and ask pardon, f In 16 11 the
Earl was made " Keeper of Holyrood House during life."
This gave him the right to an apartment in the roval palace.
The keepership is now hereditary in the family of the
Duke of Hamilton. The same year of his advancement
to the rank of Earl and to the office of Chancellor, Father
James Seton, S.J., wrote, September 30, 1605, to Father
Claudius Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, as fol-
lows :
* This body was a finance committee of eight upright and learned men,
who from their number were called " The King's Octavians."- — Burton :
History of Scotland, V. , 299.
f Chambers : Book of Days, I., 88.